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Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Former Indianapolis Public Safety Director Frank Straub peddled the services of a crony consultant from his days in White Plains, New York in his new job as Spokane's police chief just like he did here in Indianapolis. Straub faced a bit of embarrassment after a trainer for Boston-based North American Family Institute sent to Spokane to help with an at-risk youth program was arrested at a downtown hotel for assault this past weekend. The Spokesman-Review reports that trainer Paul Lewis was arrested on two counts of fourth degree assault after getting into a fight in the hotel's lobby. When police tried to arrest Lewis, he demanded the arresting officer contact Straub, who declined to interfere with the arrest when contacted by the arresting officer.

Spokane's council approved a nearly $85,000 contract for the North American Family Institute last September at Straub's urging. "Straub previously worked with the North American Family Institute in White Plains, New York, and Indianapolis," the newspaper reported. "He penned a recommendation for the Youth and Police Initiative promotional materials while he was in White Plains, calling the program 'a critical component of our department’s violence reduction strategy.'" A spokesman for the police department said Lewis had been barred from any further participation in Spokane's program on behalf of the contractor.

Straub has been kept busy lately with all of the police action shootings by members of Spokane's police department over the past few weeks. In the first video, a suicidal decorated war veteran was shot dead by police. The video was shot by a police officer's body camera Straub recently sole-source purchased for the department from Taser at a considerable cost of $733,000 for just 220 cameras. The language of the officer wearing the camera is rough at times. In the second video, a person of interest in the death of a woman is shot dead as he got out of his vehicle holding what appeared to be a gun. In the third video, police opened fire and shot a suspected robber multiple times as he attempted to surrender to police by exiting the front door of a house.

"Straub has been kept busy lately with all of the police action shootings by members of Spokane's police department over the past few weeks In the first video, a suicidal decorated war veteran was shot dead by police. The video was shot by a police officer's body camera Straub recently sole-source purchased for the department from Taser at a considerable cost of $733,000 for just 220 cameras. ..."

Frank Straub's previous boss, Bernie Kerik, was just released from Federal Prison...The NY Daily News reports: "Disgraced former NYPD Commissoner, boss of former Deputy NYC Commissioner, Frank Straub, arrived home Tuesday afternoon for a joyous family reunion after serving more than three years of a four-year federal jail term.

Kerik — wearing blue jeans and a gray striped sweater — emerged from a gray SUV outside his Franklin Lakes, N.J. home about five hours after his release from the Cumberland, Md., lockup.

Laughter was audible as the 57-year-old Kerik hugged his wife, Hala, and three children outside the front door. Each received a separate squeeze before they slipped indoors without addressing the media horde outside."

The crony cited by the police was part of Straub's "Hug-A-Thug" program that he tried as a miserable failure here. Of special note is that the trainer's documented behavior is that of a common street thug.

Now, NO ARREST was made in Spokane AFTER Frank Straub was notified. Interesting. Why does a real Police Chief get notified that police officers have intervened in a fight and asked how to handle the situation??? -Do you smell the stench of corruption?

Now this, as documented in the Spokane Police Policy, releasing this crony was ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN! Who do you think directed the officers to disregard their policy and NOT ARREST???-Spokane Police DepartmentPolicy Manual

Cite and Release Policy

420.3.1 FIELD RELEASE

Whenever a person is pursuant to statute for a violation oflaw which is punishable as a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, the arresting officer or any other authorized peace officer, may release the person in the field and serve upon the person a citation and Notice to Appear in court (CrRLJ 2.1 (b)(2)).

420.3.2 JAIL RELEASE

In certain cases, it may be impractical to release a person arrested for misdemeanor offenses in the field. With a supervisors approval the person arrested may instead be booked into jail.

420.3.3 DISQUALIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES

In determining whether to release the person or to book himor her into jail, officers shall consider the following factors (CrRLJ 2.1 (b)(2)):

(a) Whether the person has identified himself or herself satisfactorily.

(c) Whether the person has ties to the community reasonably sufficient to assure his/her appearance or whether there is substantial likelihood thathe or she will refuse to respond to the citation and notice.

(d) Whether the person previously has failed to appear in response to a citation and notice issued pursuant to this rule or to other lawful process.

If you follow the link, the reporter for the Spokesman-Review questioned him about sole-sourcing the bid for the body cameras. Obviously, anyone familiar with small, portable cameras knows there are other cameras at least as good, if not better, than those offered by Taser for less. Straub denied he had any financial interest in Taser. The sole source purchase was highly suspicious just like his insistence that the property at the airport that had been identified before he arrived wasn't as good as the Eastgate property for the ROC, a demonstrably false assertion.

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